Means for producing knitted fabrics



April 13, 1937. T. H. JONES ET AL 2,076,696

MEANS FOR PRODUCING KNITTED FABRICS Filed Dec. 23, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l 7.7% 729MB? PK/V/AAS wvE/vraes WraRA E% April 1937- T. H. JONES ET AL 2,076,896

MEANS FOR PRODUCING KNITTED FABRICS Filed Dec. 23, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED STATES MEANS FOR PRODUCING KNITTED FABRICS Thomas Henry Jones, Woodthorpe, and Robert Kirkland Mills, Sherwood, Nottingham, Eng land, assignors to Hosiery Developments Limited, Nottingham, England Application December 23, 1935, Serial No. 55,898 In Great Britain June 11, 1935 4. Claims.

This invention relates to the means for producing knitted fabrics; an object of the invention being to facilitate the production in such fabrics of spread loops, that is to say loops which laterally extend over a plurality ofstitch wales; the incorporation of such spread loops providing openwork or pattern effects in the fabric and also increasing the resistance to laddering. Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and simplified method of effecting loop transference during the manufacture of knitted fabric.

By this inventionlthere is provided a needle having a loop-displacing lateral projection, in the side of which adjacent to the needle-stem there is a lateral loop-receiving recess the purpose of which is to receive the loop so that strain on it (such as would otherwise result from its distention by the projection) is avoided, the

lower edge of which recess serves to terminate the movement of the loop down the needle-stem.

In order that the invention may be better understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which .Figure 1 shows in three-quarters side elevation a preferred construction of needle.

Figure 2 shows a tongue slightly modified from I that of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-6 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figures 4-7' illustrate stages in the manufacture of fabric by the aid of a needle according to this invention.

Throughout this description, like reference numerals indicate like parts.

.In the drawings, it has been elected to illustrate a latch needle, although it will be readily understood, the invention is also applicable to bearded needles. The needle is'provided on its A stem III a suitable distance below the latch l I (or below the heard in .the case of a bearded needle) with a tongue piece II, the outer edge In of which gradually diverges from the line of the stem. In effect, therefore, the tongue grad- 4 ually widens downwardly, i. e. away'from the hookedend H of the needle. The said divergence, or downward taper, is such that at the base of the, tongue the outer edge Ha thereof overlaps the front of the next adia'cent needle when the needleaccording tothis invention is installed in a knitting machine. It will be seen that the tongue If projects .or curves laterally from the front edgeof the'needle stem, so that 55 the said adjacent needle may be projected behind it and so that it does not foul the trio wall. 1

The said tongue may be constituted in effect by a tongue or wing that, when the needle is blanked out, extends in the plane thereof for- 5 wardly from the front edge and during subse.

quent stages of the manufacture is bent sideways. In any case, there is a, recess M at the side adjacent to the needle stem. The purpose of this recess is to avoid excessive lateral disten- 10 tion of theneedle loop cleared down onto the tongue and as will be realized from an inspectiori of Figure 4 such a recessed tongue serves to displace the loop sideways rather than to distend it as would a solid non-recessed tongue. The 15 edge Ma of this recess is substantially parallel with the edge 12 7 When the tongue is recessed, instead of producing it by blanking out the needle from sheet material, it may be produced by bending and 20 twisting the flat needle stem. Such a construc tion is shownin Figure 2. It will be seen that the-stem diverges (and is twisted) from the straight line to give the inclined outer edge. l2a

and the recess I4, is then bent laterally back 25 towards the general plane of the stem as at l2b,

and is finally bent backwards in the said plane as at I20. Whatever the construction of the tongue, however, it is preferred that it shall be somewhat curved in cross-section or plan, as 30 shown in Figure 3, as distinct from projecting sharply at right angles, to the plane of the stem. The utilization of a needle as above to produce a spread loop'will now be described with refer e ence to Figures 4-7, on a machine employing in- 35 dependently operable needles. Assuming that the needles have been retracted to knockover and are, carrying the, last formed stitch loops S S in their hooks, a needle Ill with a tapered tongue piece l2 asbefore described is by suitable means 40 projected or raised and in so doing the stitch loop S thereon is cleared down the stem or shank of needle l0 and passes on to the tapered tongue. This causes the loop to be gradually spread or displaced laterally and the upward movement of the needle is continued until the widest portion of the tongue is approximately level with or slightly above the top of the next adjacent needle, when the spread or displaced loop S will be extended I over said adjacent needle I0 when its downward movement in relation to the needle stem'is ar-' rested by the lower, horizontal and laterally-extending, boundary l5 of the recess. The last named needle I0 is now raised or projected, and

in so doing samepasses throu h the spread loop and said loop is received on the shanks of the two adjacent needles, Figure 5. Subsequently new thread is fed into the needle hooks, Figure 6, and the spread loop is cast off (Figure 7) in the known manner so as to extend across two adjacent needle wales of the fabric.

If, instead of producing a spread loop it is desired to transfer a stitch loop from one needle to another, the aforesaid movements are carried out in so far as the spreading of the loop over the two needles is concerned, but instead of retaining the spread loop on the two adjacent needles, the first needle from which the loop has been spread is lowered or retracted sufficiently to cast ofi the loop which is thus transferred to the next adjacent needle.

Thus it will be seen that the invention provides a process of producing in knitted fabrics spread loops and/or transferred loops by the simple operation of displacing adjacent needles relatively to each other without the employment of additional instruments.

When employing spring or bearded needles for stitch transference it will of course be understood that the beard of the needle from which the loop is to be transferred must be pressed to permit casting oil.

As previously intimated fabrics having ladderproof properties can be produced by the incorporation of spread or transferred loops, and various types of locked stitch fabric can be produced by the means above-described. For example, fabric can be knitted with spread loops at every stitch wale and in every knitted course.

Alternatively, courses embodying spread loops' first on odd needles and then on even needles.

groups at alternate courses and on the remaining alternate needles or groups at the other alternate courses. Additionally, the needles may be so operated that a loop, after being spread over two needle wales, is carried forward to form an intermeshing stitch loop in at least one of said wales.

We claim:

l. A hooked knitting needle having the stem, below the hook, diverging laterally from the straight line, and then returning, wherein the return portion has its upper edge substantially normal to the general line of the needle stem to form a stop for a needle loop cleared down the stem onto the diverging portion.

2. A hooked knitting needle, having an integral, downwardly-tapered loop-displacing part projecting laterally from the stem at a location below the loop for displacing laterally a loop cleared down the stem onto it, a lateral recess in that side of the said part that is adjacent to the stem for receiving said displaced loop, and a lower edge to said recess for terminating the downward .movement of the loop on the stem.

, edge of which is substantially normal to the length of the stem, for arresting the downward movement of the loop along said divergence.

4. A hooked knitting needle, the stem of which, I

below the hook, diverges forwardly and laterally from the general line of said stem to cause formation of a thread loop spread and laterally defiected, and then returns abruptly, laterally and backwardly, to said general lineto form a stop for the said loop.

THOMAS HENRY JONES.

ROBERT KIRKLAND MILLS. 

